Exterior siding and inner sheathing structure therefor



B. E. CURRAN Sept. 26, 1967 EXTERIOR SIDING AND INNER SHEATHINGSTRUCTURE THEREFOR Filed March 24, 1965 swm y n? V T N T /D W/A J m 7 55United States Patent 3,343,325 EXTERIOR SIDING AND INNER SHEATHINGSTRUCTURE THEREFOR Bernard E. Curran, Sewickley, Pa., assignor to H. H-

Robertson Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania FiledMar. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 442,345 1 Claim. (Cl. 52478) The presentinvention concerns building outer wall structures of the double-sheathedvariety.

The present double-sheathed Wall for a building com bines versatility ofconstruction with ease of fabrication, simplicity and remarkablestructural strength.

The present wall construction utilizes an inner sheathing formed fromoverlapped rectangular sheathing sections which are secured to abuilding framework in side-byside relation. The rectangular sheathingsections have lateral marginal flanges, one of which overlaps a marginallateral flange of the next adjacent one of the sheathing sections, andthe other of which in turn is itself overlapped by a marginal lateralflange of the other adjacent sheathing section. The two overlappedmarginal flanges serve as vertical mullions for receiving a subsequentlyapplied outer sheathing of horizontal strips of tongue-and-groove,weather-resistant sheathing. The tongue-and-groove weather-resistantsheathing is secured to the overlapped terminal marginal flanges bymeans of screws which extend through the outer sheathing and throughboth of the overlapped and overlapping flanges of the inner sheathingsections.

Tongue-and-groove sheathing of the type with which this invention isconcerned is available commercially. Typical sheathing strips aredescribed in US. Patents 3,158,960, 2,682,236 and 3,001,332 for example.

It is a further feature of this invention that suitable thermalinsulation material may be applied between the outer sheathing and theinner sheathing according to well-known practices in the building art.

The present invention, its objects and advantages, will become apparentfrom the following detailed description with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary view of a building outer wall duringconstruction in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section view taken along the lines 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 1;and

FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 are cross-section views, similar to FIGURE 3, showingalternative embodiments of the horizontal sheathing element which may beutilized in the present construction.

Referring to FIGURE 1, there is illustrated a fragmentary view of abuilding under construction according to this invention wherein aplurality of generally horizontal subgirts 11, 12 are secured inoutboard relation to the columns of the building (not shown). Spanningacross and secured to the subgirts 11, 12 are a plurality of essentiallyrectangular inner sheathing sections 13, each being secured to thesubgirts 11, 12 by means of fasteners 14. If desired, the innersheathing sections 13 may be spotwelded to the subgirts 11, 12.

The rectangular inner sheathing sections 13 comprise an essentiallyrectangular central flat surface 15 having lateral outwardly disposedflanges 1-6, 17. Each of the flanges 16, 17 has a terminal marginalstrip 18, 19 both of which extend in the same direction and aregenerally parallel with the flat surface 15. The terminal marginal strip18 extends from the flange 17 and overlies the flat surface 15. Theterminal marginal strip- 19 extend from the flange 16 and is dis-posedaway from the flat surface 15. When two of the present sheathingsections 13 are assembled in side-by-side relation, the flange 16 of oneis in abutting relation with the flange 17 of the other; the terminalmarginal strip 19 of one is in overlying engagement with the terminalmarginal strip 18 of the other. The outboard surface of the terminalmarginal strip 19 serves as a mounting surface for the horizontal sheetlike sheathing elements of the present wall. The sheet-like sheathingelements 20, as shown in FIGURE 3, have a tongue element 21 at one endand a groove element 22 at the other end.

Means are provided adjacent to the tongue element 22, such as afastening lip 23, for receiving a suitable screw 24 which extendsthrough the fastening lip 23 and through the terminal marginal strips18, 19 as seen in FIGURE 3. The screw 24 is disposed in such manner asit will be hidden from external view in the final wall assembly.

The external horizontal sheathing elements 20' are assembled one-by-onefrom top-to-bottom when the strips are of the type shown in FIGURE 3 areemployed.

Alternatively, the horizontal sheathing strips 20A, shown in FIGURE 4,may be employed where bottom-totop assembly of the external sheathing isdesirable. As shown in FIGURE 4, the horizontal sheathing strips 20Ahave a fastening lip 25 adjacent to a groove element 26 and have are-entrant tongue element 27. Sheathing elements of the general typeshown in FIGURE 4 are described in US. Patents 3,001,332 and 2,766,861,for example.

A further alternative embodiment of the bottom-to-top assembly varietyof horizontal sheathing elements is illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6. Theindividual sheathing elements of FIGURE 5, 20B, have a fastening lip 28and groove element 29 at one end and a re-entrant tongue element 30 atthe other end. A single outwardly presented, hook-shaped flange 31 atthe top of the sheathing strip 20B provides both the fastening lip 28and the groove element 29. To assemble the wall of FIGURE 5, thelowermost horizontal strip 20B is secured by means of the fastener 32.Thereafter the next upper horizontal sheathing strip 20B is positionedin place by inserting the tongue element 31 into the groove element 28of the lowermost strip. Thereupon the next upper horizontal strip 20B ofFIGURE 5 is secured by extending the fastener 33 through the fasteninglip 28. A still further embodiment of the bottom-to-top horizontalsheathing 20C is shown in FIGURE 6 which includes an outwardly presentedterminal flange 34 at the end of the outwardly presented, hook-shapedflange 31. This outward flange 34, in abutment with the bottomhorizontally disposed flange 35 of the sheathing element 20C serves torigidity and strengthen the wall assembly.

If desired, batts of thermal insulating materials such as fibrousmineral wool, fibrous glass, foam resinous substances such as foamedpolystyrene or foamed polyurethane may be secured to the inner sheathingsections 13 beneath the outer horizontal sheathing elements 20. Suchinsulation batts are identified by the numeral 36.

The present wall construction avoids the need for inter vening subgirtsbetween the inner shetahing sections 13 and the external horizontalsheathing elements 20.

A preferred form of the inner sheathing sections 13 is described inco-pending U.S. patent application S.N. 425,- 517, filed Jan. 14, 1965,and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

The inner sheathing sections 13 preferably are fabricated from steelsuch as galvanized steel sheets having a thickness from 12 through 22gauge.

The outer sheathing elements 20 may be fabricated from a variety ofmaterials such as metals, plastics and the like. Steel sheeting oraluminum sheeting is satisfactory. The external sheathing should beprovided with a weatherresistant exterior coating such as porcelainizedenamel,

weather-resistant paints or enamels, adhesively secured plastic films,resinous coatings and the like. A preferred material for use in theexternal sheathing elements 20 is protected metal fabricated fromzinc-coated steel sheets having an asphalt-impregnated asbestos coveringsecured to the metal sheet which is in turn covered a suitableweather-resistant resinous substance. Such preferred protected metalsare described, for example, in US. Patents 1,862,332 and 2,073,334.

I claim:

A building outer wall construction comprising in combination:

a plurality of vertically aligned side-by-side sheathing sections;

each sheathing section having an essentially rectangular central flatsurface and a pair of lateral outwardly disposed flanges at the sideedges thereof, said sheathing elements being secured to a buildingframework intermediate their side edges, said flanges terminating inmarginal strips which are generally parallel with said flat surface, oneof said marginal strips on each section overlying and engaging acomplementary marginal strip of the next adjacent section and the otherof said marignal strips of each section being disposed beneath andengaged with a complementary marginal strip of the other adjacentsection;

a plurality of horizontally disposed sheet-like siding elements, eachhaving a weather-resistant outer covering and having tongue means alongone longitudinal edge and corresponding groove means along the opposedlongitudinal edge, each siding element being disposed intongue-and-groove engagement along each of its longitudinal edges withthe immediately adjacent siding elements, a portion of a longitudinaledge of each said siding element overlying and being directly engagedwith the outer one of said marginal strips; and

a plurality of fasteners securing said siding elements to said sheathingsections, each of said fasteners extending through said siding elementat the longitudinal edge thereof and also extending through a pair ofthe overlying marginal strips.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,589,675 6/1926 Belding 52-531 X1,862,332 6/1932 Coffrnan 29195 2,062,160 11/1936 Calkins 52588 X2,073,334 3/1937 Coffman 29-195 2,628,078 2/1953 Krauss 52-.508 X2,682,236 6/1954 Holmstrom 52-529 2,766,861 10/1956 Abramson 52-53l2,936,723 5/1960 Waldron 52-508 X FOREIGN PATENTS 807,029 '1/1959 GreatBritain.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

W. O. WARNECKE, Assistant Examiner.

